Over 150 marijuana plants seized in Shallotte drug bust

One hundred and sixty-seven marijuana plants were seized from Michael Wayne Herdman's Shallote home on Snapper Street. He is facing six charges, five of which are felonies, including possession with intent to sell, trafficking and manufacturing marijuana.
The pot plants ranged in size from inches tall to more than eight feet. The bust is a result of an eradication operation. Along with the SBI, and a highway patrol helicopter, detectives and undercover agents began searching for growing operations. In just eight hours, the house was spotted, searched and seized. “We're sure that there's a lot of it that we have yet to find, and I assure you we will be looking for it,” said Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram.
It was an out of the ordinary day for the normally quiet neighborhood. Fred McKeithan has lived here for 20 years. “I didn't know anything was going on,” he said. “I saw the helicopter circling over head and then I told my wife they found what they was looking for. The next thing I saw was all these police cars.”
Other neighbors watched detectives clear Michael Herdman's shed, plant after plant, concerned for the children who live nearby. "My baby girl and his baby girl used to play together, running back and forth,” said Keith Lovett. “This is a total shock to all of us."
Detectives said two young children lived with Herdman and DSS was notified.
While the total seizure has yet to be weighed, undercover agents estimate they have taken between thirty to forty pounds of pot off the streets.
Michael Herdman makes his first court appearance Tuesday.

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I am not a smoker but I was just wanting to know if anyone,nonsmokers and smokers know the accident rate in the states and countries that do have it legal? I have lived with both a drinker and a smoker and I will take a smoker over a drinker any day. If you have never been able to compare the difference first hand then you should try it and you may change your mind on the smokers.

Here's the cold, hard facts that influence The War on Drugs in general, and marijuana in specific terms:
1. The War on Drugs is a massive employment program. Sure....it's totally ineffective, but so is Head Start,which studies prove exist solely as an employment program for inner city females. We keep both of them going simply because of the numbers. Who cares if the kids don't do any better when they reach elementary school or we keep drowning in drugs? Lots of people work. In the case of that War on Drugs, we have several hundred thousand law-enforcement officers, corrections officers, lab technicians, evidence custodians, court clerks, etc, whose income depends on the War on Drugs. Expand your horizon to the peripheral goods and services(everything from armament and ammo to prison food services) and the number tops one-million people who draw a paycheck because of the War on Drugs. So while prohibition never works, the people who enforce the prohibition do.
2. A small minority of people vehemently want to keep marijuana illegal. A larger group (but still a minority) want to legalize marijuana. The vast majority of Americans don't particularly give a hoot about the issue. Until they have a dog in the fight, efforts at legalization are met with a collective yawn. I can think of at least two dozen critical issues I'd like to see this country tackle. The "status of pot" isn't one of them. Legalize it, don't legalize it - most of us don't care.
3. Those bemoaning this particular operation seem to lack a basic concept of living in a structured society: Change the law if you can, but until you do, you enforce the law as it is written. You don't ignore it. Growing marijuana is fairly easy to detect, and the various agencies did EXACTLY what they were obligated to do in this case.
4. To those claiming that we must either legalize pot or make alcohol and cigarettes illegal, guess again. We don't HAVE to do either....and we won't. There is far too much money involved to rock the boat. Cigarettes and alcohol will remain legal, pot will remain illegal, and we'll keep up this phony-baloney War on Drugs....but a lot of people will keep putting food on the table because of it.
BTW, the best war on drugs is growing up and saying, "No thank you."

This is a joke, the government is not winning any war on drugs. They will admit as much to anyone who will listen. The facts speak for themselves marijuana continues to be the number one cash crop in America, above all other crops, think about that. It has also become the number one reason to put people in jail. How can we have responsible drinkers, and not have responsible marijuana smokers. People can buy a gallon of whiskey, drink that, and go get another, but you cant smoke weed. Something is wrong with this type of reasoning. It is time to face the facts legalize it, tax it, and be done with it. The current mind set on marijuana being illegal is an out of date, disconnected concept with nothing more than propaganda to support it. If you dont want to use it dont use it. There was a good special on nationa geographic tv the other night check it out.

To "Ungrateful"....the vast majority of the blog posters hardly appear to be "pot heads" but rather intelligent, logical and well informed people. Just because someone disagrees with your opinion does not mean they do drugs. I also know alcohol and cigarettes are shown to be potentially lethal - yet they are legal. There is no sense in this. Either you legalize it or you make alcohol and cigarettes illegal along with marijuna.

Its strange to me how the law turns its head at some crimes, and yet makes a big deal out of others.like when a mexican jumps the fence. he or she is breaking our laws. and the cops do nothen. they bring with them aids,drugs,gangs. They steal our jobs,rape our women, kill our people shoot our cops,dont pay taxes,and infrendge on our health care. they burn our flag or wave theirs over ours. and still we do nothen.
but let someone grow or smoke pot. wich is less dangerous the tobacco or booze/beer. and what a big deal that is.
I just dont understand.
weed is the lesser evil out their. yet we treat it like its one of the worse. wy? what makes this the way it is. its time for reefer maddness to end.

So let me get this straight...We are spending thousands of dollars in our tax money for sheriff's detectives, helicopters, jail personnel, judges, court clerks and prosecutors BECAUSE SOME GUY IN SHALLOTTE HAD A GARDEN?! Who is the victim in this scenario?

This is not about being liberal or socialist. It's about being educated and having common sense. If you think marijuana should remain illegal than I challenge you to give a good solid argument as to why alcohol and cigarettes (which are proven to be far more lethal) should remain legal. How is that logical?

Geez, how much did that 'eradication effort' cost? Helicopter, multiple agencies, multiple officers...that's a lot of money for cannabis. What's so hard about handing out a business license and collecting taxes? Cannabis prohibition isn't working. I know you'll holler about this bust but that's 40 lbs. ...and that's nothing. Really. You're talking lbs while tons roll down the street. The Border Patrol Tuscon Sector takes in 2 1/2 TONS per DAY. One sector. And they admit that they only get 5 to 10 percent. Prohibition only makes the wrong people rich. Bring this stuff out into the open and
LEGALIZE, REGULATE, AND TAX.
Anything short of legalization is filling the pockets of criminals with cash. Can we stop playing Elliott Ness and Al Capone? It's still not working.

"Anything short of legalization is filling the pockets of criminals with cash."
It's not about filling the pockets of criminals with cash, it's about filling the pockets of Pharmaceutical Companies / Alcohol Companies / Cigarette Companies with cash... oh wait, now I see your point. These are some of the biggest lobbies against the Non-Criminalization of Marijuana.
The WAR ON DRUGS is also about Privately / Corporately / Non Governmentally run prisons and the BILLIONS of dollars they poor into their local economies from building, to staffing (correctional officers are not police/peace officers, but state licensed security guards) to support services. Remember when our government used to care enough to not outsource their duties? I'm not a fan of giant government, but shouldn't there be a few things they agree to do on behalf of the good people they tax so heavily?
It is also about Police Unions, who want to ensure their ever growing membership is always employed. Rather than eliminate the problem, they want the problem to thrive, so they can keep filling their coffers. A doctor once told me he originally was going to be an allergist, because the patients rarely die (except in the extreme cases of extreme allergies - as opposed to cancer patients, etc.) and the patients rarely get better. A constant stream of customers/income, much like the drug war.
How about treating drug and alcohol (and cigarettes) like the health scourges they are, and offer treatment and counseling as an option prior to prison? Of course prison will be necessary for some, but really, smoking a joint in the privacy of your own home a jail-able offense? A life altering Jail-able offense. People who complain about people on welfare, should analyze how a lot of them got there in the first place. Petty charges, that compound and lead to prison and little hope of ever finding a real job again... So crime it shall be - with an education from criminal university, aka prison. Help people to help themselves.
Wake up people, this system is going to come tumbling down, unless we repair the damage at the foundation of our society.
If you throw everyone in jail, who will be around to ensure they all stay there? The MATRIX?

The money would have been better spent fighting the Mexican mafia MS13. Here in Wilmington. As a former gang member I see the tags marking their neighborhoods. Do they realize how much coke and BALES they bring in here daily. Right in the Port. They might want to try to open more of those containers instead. I scoff at 40 pounds un-culitvated weed what a joke. Street value of 50,000 if he is lucky. This is all smoke and mirrors. To cover up the real deal. Local law enforcement could not get any of the pie because he was small time. Ruin the mans life for something so harmless as pot. How about this.
1)Legalize personal growing. $500yr for permit.Up to 5 plants.
2)Regulate and tax the sale for certified growers

The prohibition of cannabis is simply foolish, but is so entrenched in our society, it may take decades for common sense to prevail.
Alcohol KILLS 150,000 Americans a year due to side effects from it's use, and it addicts 15% of those who use.
Cigarettes KILL 450,000 Americans a year due to side effects from their use, and it addicts 30%+ of those who use.
Cannabis kills ZERO Americans a year due to side effects, and can cause DEPENDENCE in up to 10% of those who use. (and that dependence is FAR milder than the addiction caused by tobacco or alcohol)
But alcohol and cigarettes are LEGAL, and cannabis will get you life in prison! Where is the sense in that?! A 1999 study commissioned by BARRY MCCAFFREY, the US Drug Czar at the time also found that ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES are the TRUE 'gateway' to harder drugs, and often cannabis was simply the first stop because it's the most prolific. Don't believe me? Look up the Institute of Medicine's 1999 report, and see for yourself. But don't be surprised they're not broadcasting this info, what happens to the DEA if pot is legalized? A whole LOT of DEA employees suddenly are out of work, they won't let that happen, not easily!
The government's ridiculously illogical ban has run its course! We Cannabis Aficionados are DONE with being brushed aside, vilified, demonized and incarcerated! The vast majority of us are hard-working, home-owning, tax-paying, child-rearing American CITIZENS who are DONE with being stepped on! DON'T TREAD ON ME!
Stop oppressing us, we're people too, and we don't want to smoke and drive, or smoke and work, or to sell children into slavery. We just want to relax with a different intoxicant than alcohol, which, BTW, is also less dangerous to your health than alcohol, and less likely to addict you than alcohol!
And keep in mind, if it's legalized, taxed and regulated, American Farmers will have a ca$h crop again! Americans want to buy from Americans, not Mexican Cartels, we can defund those scumbags to the tune of 65% OVERNIGHT by legalizing just marijuana! Why do you want them selling it? They're not going to card kids, they'll sell to anybody! They'll grow it in our national forests, destroying them, or they'll soak it with pesticides that are dangerous for those who use. Why won't our government PROTECT the 25 million Americans who've used in the last year, by REGULATING this huge market, and guaranteeing a safe product is being sold!?
COMMON SENSE WILL PREVAIL!!

Next time you post a comment, try breaking in half whatever you're smoking. Can you imagine the trauma rooms at your local hospitals? Instead of smoking cigarettes on the way home from work, every bone head out there would be baked driving home from work. The wrecks will be spectacular. Read the book "War on Drugs" by James Inciardi, then get a clue.

yep thats what you are. but i bet you drink beer or booze of some kind, dont you. I bet you have never smoked a joint one day in your life have you>????smokeing weed gets you abought as high as one beer mabe three. but that is it. you cant get no higher. you could smoke a whole tree of high drowe and not get any higher then a six pack of shorts beer. and that is it. no matter how much you smoke you want get no higher.
booze on the other hand you get higher and higher untill you pass out, die , or kill some one.
no one has ever died from weed, no one,
unless of course he got shot in the back by a cop tring to get away.
I had two uncles that use to tell me. please quit smokeing pot its bad for you.
both of them are dead now. from drinking two much, one was 46 the other 52. their liver quit.
no one has ever had their liver quit smokeing weed. USA wake up. its time to free the weed.....

smokeing pot dont make you wreck your car like booze does.in fact it might make you drive better. allthough you might mess your turn. or drive to slow. in fact most will drive to slow. but remain right between the lines.
all though i no longer induldge in weed. i smoked it for 35 years.
ive worked for people like pepsi cola, colliar gas, lumbee farms,
allmost all my jobs were driveing jobs. and nock on wood. ive never had a wreck or known any one to have a wreck because they were high on weed. on the other hand ive drank booze and had two fender benders. thank god no one was hurt. and only small dent in the cars. booze is a lot worse then weed. in fact if weed was legal i would quit tobacco and smoke weed because it calms my nerves keeps me from wanting to hurt some one. and just relaxes me. and tobacco just makes it hard to breath. poor bload flow through out your body.pluss cancer. and booze just plain out kills. wreck your car, run over some one. or have your liver quit. if a child would eat a whole weed tree, he would not die. it would just eat like crazy.and laugh at all your not so funny jokes.

Ummmm HELLO?
No one is saying it should be legal to smoke while driving. The legalization of weed would PROBABLY (call me crazy) call for the same/ similar laws as alcohol. It isn't legal to get into a car after work and drinks a bottle of vodka or a six pack! Nor should it be legal to get in the car and smoke a joint. Talk about clueless, your statement is one of the most ignorant I have heard on the subject.
The arguement is to make it legal as alcohol is legal with obvious laws as there are laws regarding alcohol. No one is asking for a free for all.

out of all the drugs out their includeing booze.
weed is the less dangerious thing on the road.
not saying it should be legal to smoke and drive.
but i would rather be on the road with someone that smokes and drives then some one who drink and drives.

To begin with, alcohol is FAR more dangerous than marijuana when it comes to driving, and NOBODY is advocating it be used while driving anyway. What a foolish comment.
We don't want to get high and drive, we don't want to get high and go to work, we just want to be left alone when we get HOME and get high. You don't get thrown in jail for drinking a beer, why should I be thrown in jail for smoking a bowl?

When people talk about making it legal most of us think obviously it shouldn't be used while at work or driving and etc. Obviously there should be laws as to when and where you can use it. Pretty sad all the police are looking for weed when they could be looking for drugs that kill people everyday. No they just look for something that makes you laugh and eat when you use it! WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!

Let me know how those laws have worked out for stopping underage drinking, drinking & driving, dui's & dwi's etc.. I guess all those traffic fatalities related to drunk driving are just a silly myth. Again, get your heads out of that bowl & break the joint in half before you choke on those Funyuns

If the gov't can't control the regulation of 'controlled/legal' drugs - then all arguments about the illegal ones fly out the window. Driving impaired is driving impaired - whether your drunk, high, on meds, or even talking on your cell phone.
If, by your own admission, the current laws do not work - then why do we need to have more? Do you even know why marijuana was outlawed in the first place? Probably not, as most sheep never take the time to think for themselves.
Seems like while our current administration is so keen on spending money - they would welcome some additional taxes and decreased spending on law enforcement - that, by your own admission, is not working.

The tax payers would be billions of dollars better off if the the stuff was legalizrd and sold like alcohol and tobacco.
But the justic department would have to fire thousands of people who thrive on putting the little guys in prision and pretending they are saving the world. In fact they are only making it possible for people south of the Border and all the rest of the scumb behind them to turm billions of american dollars into the hands of the real crooks in Mexico.
and other country's..
I say put an end to the cops and robbers play on the small crooks and shut down the billions of our dollars from crosing the border.
Gangs are being set up all over american to controll the sale of Cannabis on their turf.
if the Cannaibis was legal you just drop by the nearest cannabis store and buy it legal and get rid of the gang bangers that kill at the sligest notion.
WE can make cannabis legal, it is only a play to keep it elegal by government to keep so many men doing
what is never going to end till we legalize Cannabis in the states.
When are we going to wake up!!!!

I can't see where any of these posters are discussing anything to do with politics, Obama or Kenya...or even if pot makes your heart explode. The point that everyone is making is the waste of law enforcement time, the waste of prison space, the waste of court and Judges time that is spent on enforcing stupid and outdated laws on marijuana.
There are simply too many "real" criminals walking the streets, you know...murderers, thieves, rapists, child molesters, stock brokers, etc that walk free and take advantage of a police system overloaded because of pot offenses.
I'm a middle of the road conservative Republican and I happen to agree with most of them...and No...I'm not going to Africa to burn with the prez.

Maybe you should take a look at the German Gestapo laws from Hitler, compare and contrast it to some of your conservative Republican laws such as the patriot act that were passed with the last Republican president. I like how you can talk about socialism that is a myth and yet not mind living in a deceptive Gestapo like Republican government where everything is predicated on fear, and manipulation of truth.
W.C.

Let me just try to make sure I understand you correctly: You think the Patriot Act is akin and therefore no different than the Hitler regime in Germany? That's probably one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
Please enlighten us and explain exactly WHICH laws you believe are identical. You conveniently left that part out in your post.
I don't dispute that the Patriot Act arose in part out of fear. Do you HONESTLY not see that those fears had merit? The Patriot Act was part of this nation's response to the worst act of terrorism ever committed against all Americans. Not only was it directed at Americans EVERYWHERE, it was done on American soil. Your words suggest that you think our government should have just sighed and said "Hey, terrorists...that was really mean. Please don't do it again."
NOT ME. I expect my government to do whatever is necessary to prevent another September 11th. If you honestly believe that is wrong, you're living in the wrong country. I encourage you to go seek residency elsewhere since America is such a disappointment to you.
Oh, one more thing...when you DO find that Utopia, we'd all like to know where it is. A place where no one will be murdered by terrorists...a place where EVERYONE ALL the time tells the truth...WOW. Yeah...I gotta know where that place is.

ignorance like that which is part of the problem with this country today! I am not an Obama supporter and so far from a liberal socialist it is scary. The fact is your ignorance on the legalization of a weed, is more in line of a liberal social thinker. So stir that around in you mixed drink!
FACT the cost of the officers, helicopters, courts, jailing, DSS, etc. A family that will be broken up and essentially taken care of by the govt.. Think about YOUR socialist thinking. Please state one reason why this lost cause should keep taking away tax money instead of making it. The tobacco state needs to take a close look and stop the reefer madness!